Using Twine as a Therapeutic Writing Tool for Creating Serious Games

K Starks; Dakoda J Barker; Alayna M Cole

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-45841-0_8

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Using Twine as a Therapeutic Writing Tool for Creating Serious Games

Conference paper

Open access

Peer reviewed

Using Twine as a Therapeutic Writing Tool for Creating Serious Games

K Starks, Dakoda J Barker and Alayna M Cole

Serious Games: Second Joint International Conference, JCSG 2016, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, September 26-27, 2016, Proceedings, pp.89-103

Joint International Conference on Serious Games (JCSG), 2nd (Brisbane, Australia, 26-Sep-2016–27-Sep-2016)

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), 9894, Springer

2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45841-0_8

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Abstract

choice

narrative

catharsis

therapy

writing

cognitive behavioral therapy

Serious games are understood as games that have a purpose beyond entertainment, and are designed for the educational or behavior-change benefit of those who play them. However, the creation of text-based, choice-driven games presents an opportunity for therapeutic narratives that benefit the game authors as well as potential players. Although the benefits of storytelling for therapy has been previously established, these narratives were often linear in nature; the software program, Twine, enables technologically non-savvy authors to write branching narratives with multiple choices, creating an opportunity for an enhanced experience of cathartic storytelling. This paper includes a brief description of writing therapy models, including cognitive behavioral writing therapy (CWBT) and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), and how the thinking involved with creating choice-based narratives mimics those processes. Then, it moves into a brief introduction of Twine and how it is used to create non-linear narratives. Following that, the paper presents three self-reported cases of authors who have experienced catharsis and wellbeing benefits via the use of interactive storytelling with Twine, and how the creation of choice-based narratives enhanced this wellbeing experience. Finally, the paper presents advantages for introducing Twine in a formal therapy process, and practical considerations in doing so.

Details

Title: Using Twine as a Therapeutic Writing Tool for Creating Serious Games
Authors: K Starks (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts, Business and Law
Dakoda J Barker (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts, Business and Law
Alayna M Cole (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts, Business and Law
Contributors: T Marsh (Editor)
M Ma (Editor)
M F Oliveira (Editor)
J B Hauge (Editor)
S Gobel (Editor)
Publication details: Serious Games: Second Joint International Conference, JCSG 2016, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, September 26-27, 2016, Proceedings, pp.89-103
Conference details: Joint International Conference on Serious Games (JCSG), 2nd (Brisbane, Australia, 26-Sep-2016–27-Sep-2016)
Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS); 9894
Publisher: Springer
Date published: 2016
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-45841-0_8
ISSN: 0302-9743
Copyright note: Copyright © Springer 2016. The author's accepted version is reproduced here in accordance with the publisher's copyright policy. The final publication is available at www.springerlink.com
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Creative Industries - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450361302621
Output Type: Conference paper

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